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Lot Essay
The needle-like crystalline inclusions in the material popularly known as "hair crystal" can be black (tourmaline), green (actinolite) and coppery-red or silvery-gold (rutile). With the random distribution of differently colored needles of varying thickness and length, "hair crystal" bottles provide an infinite variety of exciting patterns. These patterns bear striking similarity to the expressive linear brushstrokes employed by virtuoso calligraphers, therefore appealing to connoisseurs of classical Chinese paintings. In particular, the clusters of crystals often resemble popular motifs in Chinese painting, including densely-packed bamboo groves, frosted reeds by the side of a lake in mid-winter, or the leaves of an orchid gently swaying in the breeze.
The inclusions in this example are tourmaline and the "hairs" rising up from the base in long diagonals with short offshoots is suggestive of bamboo swaying in the wind.
For a full discussion of the needle-like inclusions in a variety of crystal bottles, see Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 2, Quartz, no. 193.
The inclusions in this example are tourmaline and the "hairs" rising up from the base in long diagonals with short offshoots is suggestive of bamboo swaying in the wind.
For a full discussion of the needle-like inclusions in a variety of crystal bottles, see Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, Vol. 2, Quartz, no. 193.